Upcoming Events at Brooks Memorial Library

Navigating the Online Portal for New England Genealogical Research: AmericanAncestors.org

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Monday, December 11, 2017, 06:30pm

While not part of the "genealogical giants,” or large genealogical databases like Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, FindMyPast, AmericanAncestors.org is a very large online portal to the oldest genealogical society collection in the United States, the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

On Monday, December 11, at 6:30 PM, genealogist Jerry Carbone will discuss the genealogical treasures of the online content of Americanancestors.org, in his talk, "Navigating the Online Portal for New England Genealogical Research, AmericanAncestors.org,” in the Brooks Memorial Library meeting room, beginning at 6:30 PM.

The portal includes over 450 electronic databases with nearly 250 with source images, such as, vital records, court, land, probate records, Bibles, census, tax, and voter lists. It also provides access to the NEHGS online catalog of books, periodicals,and manuscripts.

The NEHGS web site states that the collections "contain over 1.4 billion records spanning twenty-two countries covering the United States, the British Isles, continental Europe, and beyond, including one of the most extensive online collections of early American genealogical records, the largest searchable collection of published genealogical research journals and magazines, and the largest collection of U.S Catholic records online."

Also accessible from the portal are digital collections of letters, diaries, photographs, newspapers, business records, organizational records, and other materials for historians and genealogists. The Jewish Heritage Center contains personal papers, historical records, photographs and other materials documenting the history of the Jewish community of Boston.

Brooks Memorial Library has a subscription to AmericanAncestors.org, so you may use it for free in the library, and take advantage of other services and products, such as, downloading genealogical templates, including research logs, family charts; online learning videos; study guides on genealogical topics.

Carbone retired from Brooks Memorial Library in 2015 and went on to earn a Certificate in Genealogical Research at Boston University in May 2016. He received his B.A. in History from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, and his M.L.S. from University of Texas at Austin, Graduate School of Library and Information Science. While pursuing his library degree, Carbone worked part-time in the Texas State Library, Genealogy Library. He has been assisting people with their family histories since receiving his certificate from B.U.

His historical and genealogical research interests over the years have been varied, including events and personalities of the Brattleboro area. His article on a Brattleboro personality, Edward Edwards (1816-1890), "Spiritualism in Brattleboro, 1886-1889: One Man’s Contact with the Afterlife through Letters,” will be published in the Spring 2018 issue of “Vermont History,” a journal of the Vermont Historical Society.

There will be a raffle prize provided by NEHGS for those who attend this workshop.